


Delayed

by aleclightwoodisbetterthanyou (bowtiewontlie)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, Fluff, mundane AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 02:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8950687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowtiewontlie/pseuds/aleclightwoodisbetterthanyou
Summary: For the prompt: "stuck in an airport on christmas eve au" for the TMIFemslash Winter Gift Exchange.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cameroncole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cameroncole/gifts).



Isabelle sighs heavily as she steps out of the taxi and into the frigid air. She pulls her coat around herself a little tighter and then grips her coffee cup with both hands, trying to soak up some of the warmth.

The taxi driver pulls her suitcase from the trunk and sets it down next to her, pulling the handle up for her. “Thank you,” she tells him, grabbing the handle with one hand and stepping further onto the sidewalk toward the automatic glass doors of LaGuardia Airport. Even the terrible temperatures and the threat of a blizzard haven’t kept people from attempting to fly on Christmas Eve. Just looking through the windows, Isabelle can tell the place is packed.

A loud groan of frustration catches her attention and she turns to see a petite girl with long red hair attempting to pick up a bunch of papers that have apparently fallen onto the sidewalk. Next to her is a clearly flustered guy holding what looks like a portfolio of some sort and trying to carefully place the papers back inside. “I’m so sorry…” he is saying to the girl.

“It’s fine, Simon,” the girl tells him, although it is clearly not fine. “Just, can you grab my suitcase?” She reaches up to take the portfolio from his hands and starts shoving things inside it. “I’m already going to be late and I really can’t afford to miss this flight.”

“Okay,” the guy, Simon, says and turns back to climb into the open door of a ridiculous looking van. It’s a gross yellow color underneath but it’s covered in graffiti’d symbols and pictures and the words Rock Solid Panda. 

The girl finishes packing all the pages into her portfolio and stands just as Simon climbs back out of the van with her suitcase. “Thank you,” she tells him and then they’re hugging and she kisses him on the cheek.

“Have a good trip, Clary,” Simon tells her. “I’ll see you in a week.”

At this point, Isabelle realizes that she’s been standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring at these people for far too long. Before she has a chance to turn away, however, the girl turns around to face the airport and Isabelle’s breath catches in her throat. This Clary girl is gorgeous. Her red hair is flying all over the place in the wind and there’s a dark smudge on her jaw but she is the most beautiful person Isabelle has ever seen.

She thinks they lock eyes for a split second but then Isabelle’s gaze is torn away by a large man stumbling into her and spilling her coffee all over her coat. He apologizes and attempts to wipe the coffee away with his scarf but Isabelle shrugs him off. 

“It’s fine,” she says, pushing the man’s hands away. She turns back to where Clary was standing, but the red-head has already disappeared into the crowd. Damn.

Isabelle looks around for a few more seconds before giving up and dragging her suitcase in through the automatic doors. 

~~

By the time Clary gets to her gate, she’s even more flustered than she was when Simon dropped her off. LaGuardia is such a mess on Christmas Eve. There are long lines to get through ticketing, long lines to get through security, long lines at every coffee shop and restaurant and kiosk all the way to the gate.

The one stroke of luck that Clary has had so far is that her flight has been delayed. So, instead of being 10 minutes late to board her flight, she is now almost 2 hours early.

She scans the seating area near her flight and sees that there are exactly 2 seats available. One seat is between two skeezy looking dudes with slicked-back hair and fake tans. The other is next to a family with a screaming child.  
Clary cringes. This is going to be a long flight.

Instead of subjecting herself to the trauma of either of those seats, she walks a few feet to check out the next section over. This flight is slightly less crowded so far and Clary spots a section with four seats open and quickly heads over.

As she’s on her way she notices a dark-haired girl that seems to be heading to the same section, but the girl isn’t looking up from her phone, so she doesn’t notice Clary until they’re standing right next to each other in front of the four seats.

“Sorry—” the girl starts to say and then looks up. Clary looks into her dark eyes and freezes. And then the girl smiles and Clary melts. “Were you going to sit here?” the girl asks, her voice soft.

“Um,” is all Clary can manage for a second. She clears her throat. “Uh… sorry. I’m waiting for the next flight over, but there aren’t any seats over there. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” the girl says and then sits on the second seat. She gestures beside her. “There’s room for both of us.”

Clary swallows and sits. “Thank you,” she says quietly. 

That earns her another smile from the girl, who then sticks out her hand. “I’m Isabelle, by the way.”

“Clary,” she says, and shakes Isabelle’s hand. Her hand is warm and soft with strong slender fingers and perfectly manicured nails. It’s not surprising, as everything about this girl is perfectly put-together.

“I actually kind of knew that already,” Isabelle says, almost sheepishly and Clary’s eyebrows dart up in confusion. The dark-haired girl lets out a small laugh. “I saw you outside, with your boyfriend? He said your name when he dropped you off. Did you manage to get all your papers picked up?”

Clary remembers locking eyes with a dark-haired girl for a second before the girl got barreled into by a large man. “Oh!” she says, “You got run into by that big guy! I saw you outside, too. Are you okay? Did he spill coffee all over you?”

Isabelle’s cheeks turn the most delightful shade of pink. “Yeah, he spilled my coffee all over my coat, but I got it cleaned up. It’s okay.”

“Oh good,” Clary says and then adds, “I got all my papers picked up, too. Simon is a clumsy idiot sometimes, but I still love him, so I guess I have to put up with it.” She flashes Isabelle a smile. “Oh, also, he’s my best friend, not my boyfriend,” she amends quickly.

“Good to know,” Isabelle says and then smiles at Clary.

“You should let me buy you a new coffee,” Clary offers, “since yours got dumped before you could drink it. I was thinking about going to get one for myself anyway. Do you have time before your flight?”

Isabelle opens her mouth to answer but before she can, the gate attendant comes over the intercom. “Attention passengers of flight 4765 to Washington DC: due to severe weather currently occurring in the DC area, this flight is being delayed for an additional hour. Boarding for this flight will now begin at 6:25 pm. We will keep you posted on any further developments as they occur. Thank you for choosing American Airlines.”

“Sounds like I do,” Isabelle says and Clary grins. “Gingerbread Latte?”

“You got it,” Clary tells her. “Hold my seat. I’ll be right back.”

~~

When Clary gets back from buying their coffees, Isabelle thanks her and offers to pay for hers but Clary refuses. 

“You can pay me back in entertainment,” the red-head tells her, “my flight was delayed, too, and I forgot to pack a book.”

“Happily,” Isabelle tells her, and they start talking.

Isabelle finds out that Clary is headed to some tiny town in Virginia that her mom and step-dad had moved to a few years ago. She had planned to leave a few days ago but had finally received a call from an art gallery she’d been trying to get in with for the last few months. Apparently today had been their only opening for her to come in and show her work, so she changed her flight so she could see them. Isabelle, in turn, told Clary about her estranged parents, who she only saw on Christmas and Easter and only then because of her baby brother, Max, who was still in high school. She had put off this trip as long as possible, making up the excuse that she had a big paper due today and she couldn’t leave until it was perfect. 

They talked about their families; they talked about their friends, their careers; they talked about their favorite places in New York. They spent the better part of an hour talking and laughing and smiling. 

Clary is laughing at a particularly ridiculous story Isabelle is telling about her brother, Jace, when the gate attendant for Clary’s flight comes over the intercom. “Attention passengers of flight 4379 to Richmond, Virginia: due to severe weather currently heading toward the New York area, this flight is being delayed for an additional three hours. Boarding for this flight will now begin at 9:05 pm. We will keep you posted on any further developments as they occur. Thank you for choosing American Airlines.”

Clary’s face falls at the announcement but before Isabelle can say anything the gate attendant for her flight comes over the intercom. “Attention passengers of flight 4765 to Washington DC: due to severe weather currently heading toward the New York area, this flight is being delayed for an additional three hours. Boarding for this flight will now begin at 9:25 pm. We will keep you posted on any further developments as they occur. Thank you for choosing American Airlines.” 

Isabelle’s heart jumps into her throat. She really shouldn’t be so happy about being stuck in the airport for an extra three hours, but the prospect of spending more time with Clary has her trying to hold back a smile.

“Hey,” she says softly, putting her hand on Clary’s thigh. “You okay?”

Clary looks up at her and gives her a small smile. “Yeah,” she says, “just bummed at how late I’m going to get in tonight, if they don’t completely cancel my flight.”

Isabelle nods sympathetically. She can understand that, to a point. She certainly isn’t looking forward to dealing with her parents, but the time she’ll get to spend with Max is getting shorter with each delay. 

“At least I’ve got you to keep me company, though,” Clary says with a small smile and touches Isabelle’s arm lightly. And just like that, Isabelle is totally gone.

~~

Four hours later, Clary’s plane is finally about to start boarding and she realizes that as much as she wants to get to Virginia to see her parents, she’s not ready to say goodbye to Isabelle. 

“So, when are you coming back to New York?” she asks as she’s checking the zippers on her backpack and making sure she hasn’t forgotten anything.  
“Monday,” Isabelle tells her. “I can’t really stand to be in DC for that long. I’m hoping I can convince my parents to let me bring Maxxie home with me for a few days since he’s on Christmas break.”

“That would be really great! I’m sure he’d love that.” Clary says, and weirdly, she knows it’s true. She’s never met Max, but from everything Isabelle has shared with her tonight, she feels like she knows him well enough to know that he would love New York, and spending a few extra days with his sister. Not that Clary can blame him. Isabelle is amazing.

The girl in question grins at her. “Yeah, I think he would,” she says. “When are you back? I’m sure you’re spending a bit more time there, no?”

Clary nods, “Yeah, I’ll be back the day before New Year’s. I promised Simon I would come to this party his boyfriend is throwing at the Du Mort for New Year’s Eve.”

“Oo! The Du Mort? That place is swanky!” Isabelle laughs.

“You should come with me,” Clary says without thinking. Then she stops and forces herself not to cringe or react in any way to give away how embarrassed she is at the question.

Luckily, Isabelle just smiles. “I would love that, Clary.” She pulls out her phone and hands it to Clary. “Call yourself from my phone so I have your number and you have mine. That way you can get a hold of me when you get back.”

Clary takes the phone and dials her number, feeling the phone vibrate in her back pocket a few times before hanging up. She hands the phone back to Isabelle and tries not to blush as their fingers brush. “Thanks, I’ll text you,” is all she can manage to say.

She’s saved from having to say anything else by the gate attendant coming over the intercom announcing the beginning of boarding for her flight. 

“I guess I’d better go,” she says, and get’s up, pulling her backpack on and grabbing the handle of her suitcase. “It was really great talking to you today, Isabelle.”

“It was great talking to you, too, Clary,” Isabelle says with a smile. “Have a safe flight.”

“You too,” Clary says and then turns to walk toward her gate. 

She only gets a short distance away before she hears Isabelle calling out to her, “Clary, wait.”

Clary stops and turns around to see Isabelle walking over to her quickly. She doesn’t say anything, just puts her hands on the sides of Clary’s face and kisses her. 

Clary doesn’t react at first, too stunned by what’s actually happening, but as soon as her brain catches up, she lets go of her suitcase and wraps her arms around Isabelle’s waist, opening her mouth and kissing her back.

The gate attendant calling out boarding for the second group is what forces Clary to pull back. She’s out of breath and her heart is racing, but she can feel the huge grin on her face and she’s never been happier.

“I have to go,” she says softly, running one of her hands up Isabelle’s side and trying not to think about how much better that would feel if she were touching skin instead of clothes.

“I know,” Isabelle says. Her voice is rough and her lips are kiss swollen and Clary just wants to drown in those deep brown eyes. “I just couldn’t let you get on that plane without kissing you.”

Clary smiles and leans in, capturing Isabelle’s lips again in a soft, slow kiss that promises many more to come. “Merry Christmas, Isabelle,” she says. “I’ll see you in a week.”

Isabelle smiles. “Merry Christmas, Clary.”

Clary turns around and gets on her plane, smiling all the way to Virginia.


End file.
